This recording is a part of the radio series “Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which was a tribute to conductor Arturo Toscanini. The broadcasts consist of music performed by the NBC Orchestra as well as interviews with composers, conductors, orchestra members, and other people associated with Toscanini. This segment includes performances of Mendelssohn's Scherzo from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, and features an interview with composer and producer Don Gillis.

This recording is a part of the radio series “Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which was a tribute to conductor Arturo Toscanini. The broadcasts consist of music performed by the NBC Orchestra as well as interviews with composers, conductors, orchestra members, and other people associated with Toscanini. This segment features Toscanini: The Metropolitan Years, Part III, about Toscanini's time at the Metropolitan Opera.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Jack Brown. Born in 1919, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1941. He was sent to Pearl Harbor. He recounts his actions during the Japanese attack there. He was then assigned to the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). He describes his duties as the captain?s orderly. He talks about an encounter with fifteen Japanese twin-engine airplanes while escorting troop ships from the Coral Sea to Australia. He also discusses sinking Japanese supply ships in Alaska. After being hospitalized in San Francisco for tuberculosis, he joined the 1st Marine Division in Guadalcanal in late 1943. He shares an anecdote about the troops and quinine on Guadalcanal. He describes the Battle of Peleliu where he was a gun captain on a 105mm howitzer. When the war ended, he was transported on the USS Wharton (AP-7) to San Diego, California where Roy Rogers and Dale Evans greeted the troops with the song ?Happy Trails.? Shortly thereafter, he was discharged.

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This recording is a part of the radio series “Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which was a tribute to conductor Arturo Toscanini. The broadcasts consist of music performed by the NBC Orchestra as well as interviews with composers, conductors, orchestra members, and other people associated with Toscanini. This segment includes performances of Weber's Der Freischütz Overture and Boito's Prologue to Mefistofele, and features an interview with choral conductor Robert Shaw.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Ben Howden. Howden joined the Navy in 1942. He received preliminary flight training Wisconsin and Iowa and further training in Corpus Christi, Melbourne, and Vero Beach. Upon completion, he was assigned to VF(N)-106 and then transferred to a squadron aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22). He performed combat air patrols and anti-submarine patrols for three months in the Philippines. Howden traveled through a typhoon during his return to the States and was discharged when the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Raymond Swingholm. Swingholm joined the Army Air Forces in early 1942. Beginning in March of 1944, he served as a top turret gunner and flight engineer aboard a B-25 with the 12th Air Force. Swingholm completed 64 bombing missions, over Northern Italy, Belgium and France.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James Werner. Werner joined the Army in January of 1940. He served as a gun mechanic with the 64th Coast Artillery Antiaircraft. Additionally, he worked as an assistant mail censor. He was stationed at Pearl Harbor during the 7 December 1941 attack. Werner provides vivid details of his experiences on the night before and during that fateful day. In early 1943 he joined the Army Air Forces, and was sent to radio school with specialty training in direction finding. From there he traveled to New Guinea to set up a direction finding station near a military landing strip. He continued on to Hollandia, Australia and the Philippines. He was discharged around January of 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Clifford Ashby. Ashby was born in Effingham, Illinois on 11 June 1925. He became interested in amateur radio while in high school and joined the Merchant Marines in 1943. After passing tests related to radio operations he was assigned to the liberty ship, SS James B. Francis (1942) as a radio operator. He tells of the ship loaded with ammunition sitting in the harbor at Guadalcanal with hoses pumping water on the deck to keep it cool. He also observed Japanese air raids over the island of Morotai. Ashby’s ship also participated in the invasion of Luzon. Later, he was assigned to the SS Benjamin Grierson commenting on the excellent food served aboard Liberty ships. He comments on the excellent wages paid to Merchant seaman and the fact that the pay was doubled when the ship was within a war zone. He tells of the SS Grierson setting at Ulithi with 40 other merchant ships for three months following the Japanese surrender. After leaving the Merchant Marine he attended various colleges and he comments on his career prior to retirement.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Arthur Rees. Rees joined the Marine Corps in October 1941 and received basic training in San Diego. After training a few platoons as a drill instructor, he was transferred to Combat Engineers as a crane operator. He improved the airstrip at Guadalcanal and transferred supplies from LCTs to amphibious vehicles at Guam. He arrived at Iwo Jima just after D-Day and left for the States two weeks later. Although he was never on the frontlines, he was at the tail end of invasions and often operated under enemy shelling. Rees returned home and was discharged in October 1945.

This recording is a part of the radio series “Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend,” which was a tribute to conductor Arturo Toscanini. The broadcasts consist of music performed by the NBC Orchestra as well as interviews with composers, conductors, orchestra members, and other people associated with Toscanini. This segment includes performances of Sibelius's Finlandia, Mendelssohn's Nocturne from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dukas's Socerer's Apprentice and Bizet's Suite No. 1 from Carmen, and an interview with horn player Arthur Berv.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Donald Greffe. Greffe was born 20 June 1919 in Taylorville, Illinois. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1940 and was assigned to the 132nd Infantry Division. After training, he was shipped to Fiji before going to Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides for jungle fighting training. He got jungle rot and malaria and was placed in the 25th Evacuation Hospital for treatment. He recovered in time to go to Bougainville in 1943 and fight the Japanese Imperial Marine. He also participated in the landings on Luzon and fought to recapture Clark Field. He also describes the personal effects of losing men of his platoon and the combat conditions during the liberation of Manila. Greffe liberated prisoners of war from Bilibid Prison and recalls the condition of these people. He was awarded 3 Bronze Stars during WWII. He returned to the US aboard the USS Hope (AH-7) and was discharged from the service in June 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Evelyn Meehan. Meehan and her husband, who served in the Navy, were stationed at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. At the time of the attack, her husband was at sea aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). They remained in Hawaii after the attack, and Meehan continued working in the Office of Censorship in Honolulu. She speaks on general civilian life during World War II.

Interview with Jo Ann "Josie" Lochte Redden, Montessori educator and stained glass artist, discussing her German extended family, her upbringing in Kerrville, Texas, life in New York, and travel with her husband John throughout Texas and western United States to photograph, catalogue, and reproduce Native American pictographs, or rock paintings.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Barton Dale Messler. Messler joined the Navy in January of 1940. He served as a Gunner’s Mate aboard USS Pennsylvania (BB-38). They were in Dry Dock No. 1 in Pearl Harbor undergoing a refit when the Japanese attacked. He was transferred to the USS Columbia (CL-56), and traveled to Guadalcanal. He also served aboard the USS Amsterdam (CL-101), traveling to Leyte, Okinawa and Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Peace Treaty. Messler participated in 9 major engagements.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Betty Blalock. Blalock joined the Navy in 1945 and received basic training in Yonkers. She was assigned to the hospital corps and sent to the amputee ward at Quantico. Once a day, an airplane would arrive with amputees whom Blalock would visit and encourage. She remembers them as having good morale. After the war, she was discharged and married a tech sergeant, Hugh Blalock, who went on to serve in the Air Force for 30 years. She and her husband spent 10 years with Air America in Laos, Saigon, and Bangkok. While there she opened three kindergartens, taking a 12-hour train, a bicycle ride, and a boat taxi twice each week to teach classes. Blalock says that she’s led an interesting life and has gone around the world about five times.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Harmon Harris. Harris joined the Navy in May of 1944. He served with the 141st Construction Battalion. They traveled to the Marshall Islands and Kwajalein, building airstrips, houses and defensive structures.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Everett Ike McKay. McKay joined the Navy as a part of the V-7 program. He was commissioned as an ensign in July 1943. McKay was sent to minesweeper school and then assigned to the commissioning crew of the YMS-293. He discusses his duties as the executive officer. McKay also describes the operations, types of mines, and capabilities of the ship. He describes sweeping the invasion approaches. McKay discusses an incident where USS Mount Hood exploded, killing 3 men that he had just been with and severely damaging his ship. He describes going through a major typhoon, losing one engine, and all electric power. McKay also describes the role minesweepers played as a utility ship performing duties such as generating smoke and delivering mail. He was transferred back to the US and sent to demobilization school soon after he became a member of the inactive reserves.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with James John. John joined the Navy in June of 1941. He operated the boilers in the engine room aboard the USS Case (DD-370). They were berthed at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked. He recalls dropping a depth charge on a Japanese midget submarine stuck in the mud 40 feet under water, and seeing it surface. After the attack they had patrol duty in the Harbor. From May to August of 1942, they patrolled off Kodiak, Alaska and participated in the pre-invasion bombardment of Kiska. They assisted with further engagements at Guadalcanal, the Marshall Islands, Truk Island, Iwo Jima and the Mariana Islands. He was later transferred to the USS Knight (DD-633), again serving with the Black Gang. John returned to the US and was discharged in late 1945.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Irving Butler. Butler joined the Navy in October of 1942. He completed Aviation Mechanic School in Memphis, Tennessee, and Gunnery School in Jacksonville, Florida. He was trained as an Air Crewman. In September of 1943 he went to Tarawa, Makin and Guam aboard the USS Enterprise (CV-6). He was made Second Class and placed in charge of 62 men going to the Admiralty Islands. He was later assigned to USS Saginaw Bay (CVE-82) as a gunner in a torpedo plane. He was in Composite Squadron 787 (VC-78). Butler went through 14 battles. He remained in the reserves 2 years after the war ended.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with Carrie Milan. Milan’s husband Joe served with the Army Engineers during World War II from around 1940 to 1945. He served in both the European and Pacific theaters, and was stationed in England, North Africa, Sicily, Corsica, Italy, Okinawa and Iwo Jima during his service. Milan shares that Joe was a Staff Sergeant in charge of supplies. Milan shares a number of Joe’s experiences while on Iwo Jima, including his work with fellow servicemen, casualties and attacks made by the Japanese. She speaks on how their mail correspondence between the two of them was censored, how Joe actively participated in combat throughout his service and his work procuring and dispersing supplies. Joe passed away on 3 August 2000 and Milan provides information about their children and grandchildren.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Albert Montague. Montague joined the Navy in August 1941 and went to boot camp at San Diego, California. He recalls being sent to the submarine base at Pearl Harbor and attending signal school. His first assignment was at the signal tower where incoming ships were assigned docking positions by the use of lights and signal flags. One of his frequent visitors was Admiral Chester Nimitz who would often take his daily walk in the area. His recollections of 7 December 1941 include returning from breakfast mess and seeing Japanese planes strafing. Montague describes the scene and tells of the actions he took. He went aboard the US Stingray (S-40) in 1943 and recollects the war missions they went on including mine laying, picking up downed flyers and a special mission to Luzon. He was transferred off the boat into the Shore Patrol and tells of his experiences. Montague returned to the United States in 1945 and was discharged in 1946.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Bill Oliver. Oliver quit school at the age of sixteen and joined the Army in September 1939. He was sent to Hawaii, where he joined the 19th Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He attended cooks school in Honolulu for sixteen weeks then he drove trucks. He describes the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and tells of clearing the beach area of vegetation and installing rolls of barbed wire in anticipation of a landing by Japanese forces. In June 1942 he was sent to Oklahoma where he spent two years working in Battalion Headquarters during the formation of a new Army infantry division. He was then sent to Fort Benning, Georgia where he was a non-jumper instructor at the parachute school. He was discharged in July 1945. Oliver concludes the interview by telling of his duties after being recalled into the Army during the Korean War.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an interview with John Hornok. Hornok joined the Navy around 1940. He served as a Machinist’s Mate aboard USS St. Louis (CL-49). The ship was moored to the pier in Southeast Loch at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He notes how his ship was in 11 major battles, including the Marshall and Gilbert islands, Guadalcanal and Wake Island. They escorted ships back and forth from the US to Pearl Harbor. Hornok was later transferred to a submarine base in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, before he was transferred to the USS Massachusetts (BB-59). He was discharged in 1946.